Gegard Mousasi
Gegard Mousasi is a middleweight and light-heavyweight fighter currently signed with Bellator. He is the former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion and the former Dream middleweight champion. He is the former Dream light-heavyweight champion. He is the first-ever two-time Dream champion. The Twilight of Mousasi's Strikeforce And Dream Career Rebounding from the loss to Lawal, Mousasi next signed on to face UFC veteran Jake O'Brien in the opening semi-final round of the Dream 2010 light-heavyweight tournament. O'Brien came in severely overweight for the weigh-ins and he was deducted a portion of his purse. To add injury to insult, Mousasi finished O'Brien with a tight standing guillotine choke under a minute into the fight. He advanced to face fellow finalist Tatsuya Mizuno to determine the first-ever Dream light-heavyweight champion. He defeated Mizuno by rear-naked choke six minutes into the first round to win the title. He was next set to face Mike Kyle in Strikeforce. A few weeks before the bout, Kyle was injured. He was replaced with UFC veteran and Strikeforce newcomer Keith Jardine. Mousasi and Jardine fought to a controversial majority draw. Mousasi next defended his Dream light-heavyweight title for the first time against Hiroshi Izumi, winning via first-round technical knockout. A few weeks after Mousasi defeated Izumi, undefeated Strikeforce prospect Ovince St. Preux called Mousasi out after defeating Joe Cason. Mousasi eventually accepted the matchup, for a December Strikeforce card. He defeated St. Preux via unanimous decision. After the victory, he signed yet again to face Mike Kyle. That fight did not materialize either. Mousasi was inactive for the entirety of 2012 before once again signing to face Mike Kyle in Strikeforce for January 2013.. Hopefully they will actually fucking fight. They did actually fucking fight with Mousasi winning via first round rear-naked choke submission in his final Strikeforce fight. He was then confirmed to be making the move to either the middleweight or light-heavyweight divisions in the UFC. Mousasi Fights In The UFC Finally Mousasi was confirmed just days later to be making his UFC debut in Sweden against contender Alexander Gustaffson. Gustafsson was injured just days before the matchup was scheduled to take place and he was soon replaced by his teammate and newcomer, Ilir Latifi. Mousasi dominated Latifi en route to a predictable and bloody unanimous decision. Mousasi faced a long layoff afterwards with possible fights against men like Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida falling through. He was most recently rumored in October 2013 to fight contender Phil Davis. Drop to Middleweight Instead Mousasi dropped down in November 2013 to the UFC middleweight division as had been rumored for some time, signing to fight former UFC light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida for a probable title shot in February 2014 in Machida's native Brazil. Machida defeated Mousasi via a tepidly-paced but dominant unanimous decision but Mousasi looked good at middleweight. He was simply outclassed by a more tactical striker in Machida. Mousasi next signed to fight wrestler Mark Munoz in the main event of the UFC's first event in Berlin in May 2014. He became the first to submit Munoz, with a first round rear-naked choke. Mousasi wasted little time in signing for an almost certain title eliminator rematch with Ronaldo Souza. Souza submitted Mousasi with a guillotine choke with thirty seconds left in the fight. Mousasi next fought fellow former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Dan Henderson, quickly TKOing the legend in just over a minute. Mousasi then faced Costas Philippou, dominating Philippou en route to a unanimous decision win before picking up a stunning second round upset KO loss to Uriah Hall. Mousasi rebounded from the Hall loss with a unanimous decision victory over veteran contender and BJJ ace Thales Leites. He was next set to fight Derek Brunson at the landmark UFC 200 event but unfortunately Brunson was injured and replaced by striker Thiago Santos. After the debacle with Jon Jones' failed PED test at UFC 200 Mousasi offered to replace Jones to fight UFC light-heavyweight champion Dan Cormier on two days' notice but he ultimately wasn't chosen as the replacement and the fight with Santos would go forward as planned. Mousasi defeated Santos via a first round TKO. Mousasi then signed for a long-awaited fight with former UFC light-heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort. Mousasi defeated Belfort via a brutal second round technical knockout, calling out UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping and former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz several times. He also called for a rematch with Uriah Hall stating that he thought Hall's win over him had been a 'fluke.' Mousasi got his wish, getting a five-round rematch with Hall set up. Mousasi needed less than a round to dominantly put Hall away with a first round TKO and erase the 'fluke' loss from his record. Mousasi then signed to fight former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman scoring a controversial second round TKO over Weidman. The fight was Mousasi's last on his UFC contract and he defiantly entered free agency. Bellator MMA After a few months of intense negotiations and intrigue Mousasi officially signed with Bellator MMA, and was tentatively set to make his debut against former promotional middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko. Fights *Gegard Mousasi vs. Makoto Takimoto - The fight was in the opening round of the Pride 2006 welterweight grand prix. Makoto Takimoto broke his left eye socket in the fight. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Hector Lombard - The fight was an alternate bout in the Pride 2006 welterweight grand prix. The fight was only Hector Lombard's second loss. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Kyacey Uscola *Gegard Mousasi vs. Damir Mirenic *Gegard Mousasi vs. Dong Sik Yoon - The fight was in the quarterfinals of the Dream 2008 middleweight grand prix. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Melvin Manhoef - The fight was in the semifinals of the Dream 2008 middleweight grand prix. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Ronaldo Souza 1 - The fight was in the finals of the Dream 2008 middleweight grand prix. The winner would receive the inaugaral Dream middleweight title. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Mark Hunt - The fight was in the first round of the Dream Super Hulk grand prix. Mark Hunt was coming off of the first knockout loss of his career to Melvin Manhoef. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato Sobral - The fight was for the Strikeforce light-heavyweight title with Renato Sobral defending. The fight was Mousasi's Strikeforce debut. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou *Gegard Mousasi vs. Gary Goodridge - The fight was at heavyweight. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Muhammed Lawal - The fight was for the Strikeforce light-heavyweight championship with Mousasi defending. Muhammed Lawal came into the fight undefeated. The fight broke Mousasi's fifteen fight win streak. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Jake O'Brien - The fight was in the opening round of the Dream 2010 light-heavyweight grand prix. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Tatsuya Mizuno - The fight was for the inaugaral Dream light-heavyweight championship, and it was the final round of the Dream light-heavyweight tournament. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Keith Jardine - The fight was Keith Jardine's Strikeforce debut. He came in on short notice replacing an injured Mike Kyle. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Hiroshi Izumi - The fight was for the Dream light-heavyweight championship with Gegard Mousasi defending. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux *Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle - It finally happened. The fight was the last Strikeforce fight for both men. *Gegard Mousasi vs. Dan Henderson *Gegard Mousasi vs. Costa Phillipou *Uriah Hall vs. Gegard Mousasi *Gegard Mousasi vs. Thales Leites *Gegard Mousasi vs. Thiago Santos - Thiago Santos was a replacement for the injured Derek Brunson. Category:Strikeforce light-heavyweight champions Category:Dream champions Category:Light-heavyweight fighters